The Fish In My Gumboots

• Mae Travis, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2017

It was a very rainy day and I accidentally left my gumboots and my raincoat outside in the rain. It was very fun to watch the plunk, plunk, plunk of the raindrops fill up my gumboots. Although mum yelled at me (for the now overflowing gumboots) I was allowed to make some sugar cookies. This was my favorite thing to do on rainy days. I decided to make my biggest cookie in the shape of my dead pet goldfish named Sugar. Sugar died when I accidentally left her outside in the hot, scorching sun, all of her water evaporated and then she died. Anyways after mum helped me bake the cookies I frosted them and took one with me outside (after the rain had stopped). I was just about to take my first bite when a beautiful blue and pink butterfly caught my eye, I was going to go see it but I couldn’t think of where to put my cookie so I could grab my butterfly net. I had a genius idea to place my fish shaped cookie into my gumboots and that was a perfect idea because it would be able to swim. I gently placed my little fishy into the gumboot and for a few seconds it floated then it sank. I thought that it was just going down to get an idea of the home he would be staying in for the next 3 minutes. Quickly I grabbed my net and went to look for that butterfly but sadly it was nowhere to be seen. With my face downcast I slowly walked back to the veranda to check on my fish cookie but before I could, mum grabbed my arm and told me to stay indoors because there was a huge storm coming. When bedtime came, I asked mum to go and save my fish but she thought I was completely weird and said that my pet fish had already died. I eventually cried myself to sleep thinking that my fish shaped cookie had died. I dreamt of me going outside and seeing a living fishy in my gumboots. I was so surprised that I woke up and it was morning. My whole dream was me seeing a fish in my gumboots. I put my sandals on and ran through the hallway, opened the door, grabbed my butterfly net and scooped out what used to be my sugar cookie. I cried and ran to mum and told her everything. In the end mum gave me another cookie and best of all bought me another goldfish!